The carcass of a huge female blue whale washed up on a beach in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu on Sunday. Forest officials said it might have been hit by a large vessel.

The carcass that appeared on Valinokkam Beach in Ramanathapuram district was in the advanced stage of decomposition. Local residents who discovered the carcass alerted the patrolling forest officials.

S Sikkandar Batcha, a forest ranger, told local daily the New Indian Express that the 20-meter-long (65-foot) whale, aged about 4-5 years and weighing around 7-8 tonnes, died nearly a month ago. The exact reason for its death was not confirmed.

Officials buried the carcass on the beach after the autopsy.

Batcha told local news channel NDTV that the whale might have been hit by a large vessel, which caused its death. "It's a blue whale. We've just finished the postmortem. We suspect the whale must have been hit by a large vessel," Basha told the publication.

Dead marine mammal sightings are not rare in the district. On Aug. 23, the carcass of a female dugong washed ashore in Pudumadam village in the district. The next day, a dead dolphin washed ashore near Dhanushkodi village. In June, the carcass of an 18-feet-long, one-toed whale shark washed ashore.

In India, it is illegal to catch rare marine animals and those who violate the rule can get 3-7 years of imprisonment.

In another incident, at least 17 dolphins washed up on the coast of Mauritius last Wednesday, near the site where a massive oil spill occurred last month after a Japanese-owned ship, carrying 4,000 tons of oil, ran aground. Eighteen melon-headed whales had also washed up further north on the country’s coast the same day, but it wasn’t immediately known whether the incidents were connected to the spill.

blue-whale-dive
Blue whales can be right-handed, left-handed and ambidextrous, scientists say. Craig Hayslip, Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute
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